June 17 - HEROES: Samson

Our new message series HEROES looks at Bible characters between the time of Moses and the time of King David. Today's "hero" is Samson, and we read about his exploits in Judges 13-16.

Samson's parents had been childless, so his mother made a vow, dedicating him to the Lord. The Lord had a special plan for Samson:

JUDGES 13:24-25. The Lord blessed him as he grew up. And...the Spirit of the Lord began to take hold of him.

He was known for incredible strength. Chapter 14 tells about a time when he was attacked by a lion:

JUDGES 14:6. The Spirit of the Lord powerfully took control of him, and he ripped the lion’s jaws apart with his bare hands.

Another time his arms were bound with ropes, but the ropes were no match for his strength:

JUDGES 15:14-15. The Spirit of the Lord powerfully took control of Samson, and he snapped the ropes on his arms as if they were burnt strands of flax, and they fell from his wrists. Then he picked up a donkey’s jawbone that was lying on the ground and killed a thousand Philistines with it.

Samson had his ups and downs in the romance department. He lost his fiance to his supposed "best man." He had a relationship with a prostitute. Then his adventures with his wife Delilah led to his downfall.

Read the story in chapter 16 of Judges.

Unfortunately, what we really remember about Samson is his weakness. Three things in particular stand out:

1 - His unhealthy relationships. Not only did his relationships with women leave much to be desired, we also never read about a true friendship.

2 - His obsession with revenge. Compare Samson's behaviors to this Bible verse:

ROMANS 12:19. Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave room for the wrath of God;* for it is written, ‘Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.’

3 - His lack of self-control.

Samson's problem was that he had strength, without self-control. That is one of the saddest things in the world. It is particularly an issue for many men - God has given them great strength, but without self-control, that strength becomes misguided.

The Bible tells us that self-control is among the fruit of the Spirit.

GALATIANS 5:22-23. The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.

Immediately before that passage in Galatians 5 we read about the acts of the sinful nature (think about these in light of what we know about Samson): sexual immorality, impurity ...jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition...and envy.

Real men – and women for that matter – learn to temper their God-given strength with God-given character, and God-given self-control.

I read about a pastor that contrasted Samson and David. Both were strong men. Both had their flaws. But they were vastly different. Samson operated by reflex. David learned to reflect. Samson had the highest body count. He was responsible for the death of thousands. But what a sad life he had.

Think about Jesus praying the garden as he faced the possibility of crucifixion – “not my will, but thine be done” – he could have called ten thousand angels to swarm his enemies – but instead he chose the hard road of obedience – now that’s a real man for you.